The East Branch of the Sebasticook River, which flows south from Lake Wassookeag through the valley that is downtown Dexter, falls 142 feet in 3/4 of a mile. It has an evenly sustained flow from the spring-fed lake that made an ideal situation for dams (10 by 1893) to utilize the water-power for a variety of mills. By 1930 there were five woolen mills in operation, Abbott Mills being the biggest and oldest. The first gristmill on our site was there as early as 1818, owned by Jonathan Farrar.
The current building was begun in 1854 by owners Lysander Cutler and Samuel (son of Jonathan) Farrar. The millwright was Caleb Curtis, who also owned a planing mill. The original building was one and a half stories in a long rectangular shape paralleling the stream. Several additions made over the years, both upward and on three sides, considerably enlarged the working and storage capacity of the business.
The mill, for all its years of operation, was water-powered. It first had an overshot wheel, a huge creation that had a diameter or height of 18 feet and a width of 12 feet. It was made by Caleb Curtis' company of 8,000 feet of unseasoned yellow birch for a cost of $1,000, and was the best available technology at the time. However, change was as constant then as now and it was replaced with a turbine in 1877.
The grain was stone ground until about 1900; a grindstone now stands outside the front door as a decorative reminder. The abundant water-power was also used to move the grain around on conveyor belts; in to grind, up to store and down again to dispense.
The mill was well fed by its surrounding agricultural area for many years. It provided ground corn, wheat and oats, both as baking flour in various degrees of fineness and as feed grain for animals. In later years it also sold ancillary products such as fertilizer and cement.
An 1891 newspaper gives an account of reminiscences by 81 year old James LaBree, of his boyhood in Dexter, including this sample early customer service:
“The mill was a 'slow coach' and he had to wait for his grist. The old mare from standing so long became very dry. So when the miller put the grist on her back and started him homeward the animal went pretty lively till she came to a mud puddle.... and there she hauled up suddenly and poked her nose in the water, while boy and grist went over her head into the puddle. (The boy) couldn't get the grist back on her alone, so he hauled the bag up onto a stump while he rode back to the mill and got Jumper. Jumper was a kind-hearted man and went the half mile willingly to help the boy out of his trouble.”
James Jumper ran the mill for Jonathan Farrar. He also built the Miller's House in 1825 on the bank of the millpond across from the mill. Around 1855 it was moved onto the bank of the river behind the mill and continued to house the miller's family. At this time the job of miller was a Maxfield family affair, and remained so through five generations. James Quimby Maxfield began working for Cutler and Farrar. His sons John and J. Dwight continued consecutively while Amos Abbott Co. became owners from 1865 to 1882. Dwight, a Civil War veteran, was later a newspaperman in Waterville and even as miller often contributed to local papers as well as writing a poem for the 1876 Centennial Celebration.
Around 1880, Samuel L. Small, son of a local builder, began to work at the mill. He soon married the miller's daughter, Lilian, and later bought the mill. Sam and Lilian were active in many aspects of town affairs for many years. Their son, Harold, joined the mill after graduating from Burdett College in the early 1900s. Finally, his daughter, Helen, and her husband Clair Wilkins ran the mill until 1965.
Bought by the town and originally slated to be torn down, the mill was turned over to the newly formed Dexter Historical Society to house their fast-growing collection and was opened as a museum in 1967. The millpond was drained and paved to make a municipal parking lot. The Miller's house continued to be rented as a dwelling as it had been for many years. In l987 after major restoration by local citizens and students from the vocational school, the Miller's House was opened as part of the museum complex.
The Grist Mill Museum has many fascinating items pertaining to Dexter history and people. The main area has several different display areas. The World War I section has Harvey Haskell's uniform, backpack and gasmask. The fire department display offers many styles of “grenades” an early type of extinguisher. Other areas have parlor and bedroom displays, including a birds-eye maple bed built in 1846. There are also displays from Dexter's banking history, from the Dexter Bottling Company and a collection of historic children's toys.
A former grain bin has photos and items from Dexter garages and auto dealers, including a gravity run gas pump. Another small area is set up as a kitchen, with a Monson slate sink, ice box, early style washing machines (one made by Charles Crockett Co. in Dexter in the 1850s), flat irons, Worlds Fair Prize Churn for butter made by Eldridge Bros. of Dexter, and items to “guess what this is”. A large storage area in the rear houses an array of lumbering and farm implements and machinery as well as Roberts Dairy wagon from the 1920s.
Every year sees new displays, a constant stream of acquisitions and many visitors. The museum is open daily in the summer and will celebrate its 38th anniversary this year. It is still an interesting and active spot in the center of Dexter.